John h



(No Modgl.)

, J. H. LEONHARDT.

TOWER WAGON FOR ELECTRIC LINE WORK.

Patented Feb. 19, 1895.

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UNITED STATES JOHN H. LEONHARDT, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THELEON- PATENT Genres.

HARDT WAGON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TOWER-WAGON FOR ELECTRIC-LINE WORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,608, dated February19, 1895.

Application filed December 29, 1894. Serial No. 533,268. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. LEONHARDT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Tower-\Vagons for Electric-Line Work, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being bad therein tothe accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to construct a simple and strongtower-wagon, mainly for use in erecting and repairing the trolley wiresof electric railroads and their supports. The tower of said wagon beingprovided with a platform for supporting one or more workmen is rotatably mounted upon a wagons body and adapted to be elevated and swung aroundin any direction, the upper end of said tower and its platform occupyinga position overhanging the sides of the wagon directly over the cartrack and alongside of the trolley wire while the car traffic continuesin operation beneath said platform. I attain these objects by theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a side view of the tower wagon constructed in accordance with myinvention,

a portion of the turn table being shown in section,the ladder and itsupper platform be ing shown folded in full lines, and the ladder raisedand its platform extended in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top view of thetower wagon, one half of the ladder and its platform being broken awayto clearly show the turn table and other parts of the body of the wagon.Fig. 3 is an end view of a portion of the lad: der elevating frame andits gearing. Fig. 4

is a back view of a portion of the rear sill or side of the wagonshowing one of the iron supports for the ladder to rest upon whenlowered. Fig. 5 is a front view of the tower wagon on a small scale,showing the ladder and its upper platform elevated and turned so as tooverhang one of its sides, a position thatit generally occupies whenextended over an electric railroad track under its trolley wire. Fig. 6is a perspective view of the upper platform detached from the upper endof the ladder.

In said drawings W represents the bottom of a strong wagon having lowsides and ends wiupon the front portion of which is mounted arectangular frame B that is removably bolted at each corner to the sidesof the wagon body. The sides of the frame B are centrally united by abeam B that has in the middle of its length a perforation to receive thepivot bolt P of the turn table F. Said turn table consists of arectangular frame having two of its sides centrally united by a beam Fthrough which the pivot bolt P passes. The central portion of said beamF rests upon a bushing 10 placed upon the beam B and through which thebolt P passes,but the turn-table frame F is carried and steadied by fourrollers R suitably journaled in the corners of the frame F, and. made totravel upon a circular track T secured on top of the frame B.

The ladder L carrying'the operators platform Y has the lower end of eachof its sides provided with a metal strap Z bolted thereto to constituteone member of a hinge, the second member consisting of a clipj havingtwo vertical lugs that receive horizontally therethrough, as well asthrough the loop of the strap Z the pivot bolt N of one of the legs ofthe ladder. The clip j rests upon and is secured to the horizontal armof an angular metal frame J, and said frame is bolted upon theturn-table frame B. (It must be understood that two frames as J, clip jand ladder legs are used.) To add to the rigidity of the frame J itsvertical arm is connected to its horizontal armby a diagonal brace JAlthough the weight of the ladder L and of its upper platform Y wouldnormally not tilt said ladder and turn table even when in the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 5 nor bring any great pressure upon the pivot boltP; yet for additional safety and to prevent any tendency of the turntable F to become tilted,the turn table frame has pivoted to its edge,and pond ent therefrom, two hooked latches H. the hooked portion ofwhich is adapted to engage under lugs projecting from the inner end ofplates t bolted on top of the frame B. The location of the latches H onthe edge of the turn table is opposite that occupied by the ladder. Inregard to the position occupied by the plates t, two of them are on thefront beam of the frame B to guard against the tilting of said framewhen the ladder is inclined toward the rear of the wagon,and two of themare on the side beams of the frame B for a similar purpose when theladder is elevated with its top and upper platform overhanging eitherside of the wagon. The ladder when folded down has its rear portionsupported upon iron stirrups s projecting upward from'the tail end ofthe wagon.

To tilt up and elevate the ladder there is received in suitable bearingsmounted upon the vertical frames J a horizontal shaft A to which one endof chains 0 is attached. Said chains are made to pass over sheaves Supon a horizontal shaft S retained in the upper ends of the frames J,and the opposite end of said chainsis secured to eye-bolts h carried bythe sides of the ladder. To wind a portion of the chains 0 upon theshaft A, a gear wheel D is mounted upon said shaft and a pinion E ismade to mesh with said gear wheel. Said pinion is mounted upon a shaftcarried in suitable bearings of the frames J, and its retrograderevolution is prevented by a pawlp having its outer end in engagementwith the teeth of said pinion. Upon the outer end of the shaft k ahandle k is mounted to rotate it. After the ladder has been sufficientlyraised it is retained in that position, and the chains 0 relieved ofstrain, by means of props Q hinged by means of bolts 0. to the sides ofthe ladder. The lower ends of said props are made to rest upon socketplates d secured on top of the turn table.- Said plates d haveperforated lugs to receive a-split-key e that is made to pass alsothrough a horizontal perforation in the lower end of each prop Q.Projecting from the lower portion of the sides of the ladder arestirrups q to support the lower end of each prop Q when they are foldedalong the sides of said ladder.

To the upper ends of the sides of the ladder is attached the platform Yby means of hinges 1;, said platform consisting of two short joists yhaving their inner ends undercut adjacent to the hinges v, and flooringhaving their ends secured upon said joists. To relieve the hinges o ofstrain due to the weight of the operators that may be upon the platform,braces b are pivotally secured at one end to the sides of the joists yby means of boltsf, and their opposite ends are in the form of a hook 5adapted to straddle a short bolt projecting from the faces of the sidesof the ladder, and a hand nut to upon said bolt clamps each brace b tothe sides of the ladoer.

rails O secured to posts 0 having their lower ends hinged to theplatform Y in such a man- The platform is provided with guard ner thatthey can be folded inwardly upon 50 said platform, but cannot be tiltedoutwardly beyond a perpendicular position. The outer posts of the sideguard rails C are furthermore united together by bars 0 that are hingedat one end to eye bolts 0 pivotally secured to said posts, and thusrender the bars 0 swiveled to said posts and capable to be foldedagainst the inner face of the guard rails O. The opposite ends of thebars 0 are in the form of hooks (similar to the hooks b of the braces17) to straddle bolts projecting from the outer posts and be clamped byhand nuts (as w) upon said bolts.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim- 1. In a towerrwagonthe combination of the body of a wagon, a frame B bolted thereto andhaving a central pivot bearing, a circular track secured upon saidframe, a turn-table frame having a central pivot and rollers R in eachcorner, plates 15 secured to the frame B and having lugs projectingwithin said frame, and vertical latches H pivoted to the sides of theturn table frame for engagement with the plates 23 substantially asdescribed.

2. In a tower-wagon the combination of the body of a Wagon, a frame Bbolted thereto, a circular track secured upon said frame, a turn tableframe guided upon said frame B and its track, vertical latches H pivotedto the sides of the turn table frame, projections to engage said latchesa ladder having the lower endsof its sides pivoted to said turntableframe, a frame J secured upon the turntable frame and having horizontalshafts S and A, a sheave upon the shaft S a chain passing over saidsheave and having one end secured to the ladder and the other end to theshaftA, and means to rotate said shaft sub stantially as described.

3. In a tower-wagon the combination of the body of a wagon, a frame Bbolted thereto, a circular track, a turn-table frame thereon, a ladderhaving its lower end hinged to the turn table, and means as described toelevate the ladder, props Q pivoted to the sides of the ladder, aplatform Y hinged to the upper ends of the ladder and having foldablesides, a brace 19 having one end hinged to said platform and a hand-nutsecuring its opposite end to the ladder substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN H. LEONHARDT.

Witnesses:

W. K. FAUST, CHAS. M. HARDY.

